Published 6:30 am, Saturday, February 18, 2006

Paul Hirschheimer, vice president of field production, oversees the boards, and the one for today is covered in varied-color blocks, each representing a need by a telecaster during All-Star Weekend. It's ultimately up to him that TNT, ESPN, Ahmad Rashad, the affiliate in Hackensack, N.J., or any of 103 broadcasters get fed. There are 215 countries hungering for NBA video and audio.

It's a monster job that requires superior organizational skills and a small army of assistants, some of whom have those dry-erase boards memorized.

But beyond the pressure of meeting others' demands are the demands Hirschheimer places on himself. The way he sees it, he's here to document history as it happens. Yes, he's able to reach into the vaults of NBA Entertainment and find any piece of video a telecaster might need. But just as important are the events unfolding in Houston.

"We're terrified of missing something," he said. "We've got people at home who are counting on us to bring the goods. Anything we get this weekend is going to wind up being in a time capsule for what the NBA was like this year.

"We give the NBA fans everything they want, and their hunger and thirst for it is like never before."

These days, he says, "it's all about access," and NBA Entertainment is there to provide it. Much of it goes out live on NBA TV, the digital cable channel available in Houston on satellite and Time Warner Cable.

'What we live for'

The sights and sounds of NBA Jam Session, the finalists for the
Basketball Hall of Fame
, the
T-Mobile
Rookie Challenge, live interviews with all the players, red-carpet access to the All-Star Game itself — all are part of NBA TV's coverage this weekend.

"This is what we live for every year," says Steve Herbst, the channel's vice president and general manager. "One week of the year, the best players in the world descend on one location, and this is where we can get as much content as we could possibly ever want for the rest of the season. It's an incredible opportunity to interview players and shoot behind the scenes."

Giants walk the Hilton's hallways. Oscar Robertson talks into a reporter's tape recorder as they leave the Hall of Fame announcement ceremony. Yao Ming stops by the NBA TV set for a live chat with hosts Andrew Aldridge and Frank Isola. Charles Barkley, shirt tail dangling, gives an impromptu interview to an NBA TV reporter.

Looking to grow

All this devotion is fascinating considering the size of NBA TV. Though it's been around since 1999, it has 10 million subscribers in a universe of 110 million U.S. households. But that's another reason why blanket All-Star coverage matters, Herbst says.

"This is where some of the behind-the-scenes, personality-driven material comes in," he says. "Maybe the viewer isn't a die-hard fan but drops in. We're growing and hope to grow more. We're going to do it methodically, by providing programming viewers want to see."

The intensive coverage is a big reason the players are cooperative.

"We tell the players: When you're done with your career, you're going to have the greatest home movie you can imagine," says Larry Weitzman, who oversees special programming. "They don't fully appreciate it at first, but they soon get the idea."

Negatives stay on court

The personal access is the hallmark of Rashad's
NBA Access
show, which airs on ABC. (Today's show, at noon on Channel 13, focuses on the
Orlando Magic
's
Dwight Howard
and the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets'
Chris Paul
.)

"Nobody has our access," Weitzman says, "and it's because we have a long relationship with the players."

It's also because the NBA oversees NBA TV and NBA Entertainment. And it's also because both entities are less likely to get into players' ugly off-the-court behavior unless it affects on-the-court behavior.

"We're going to cover negative news if it happens on the court," Herbst says. "Off the court, we take it on a case-by-case basis. If it affects what happens on the court, we're going to cover it."

That said, 10 million subscribers prove there's an itch that NBA TV is scratching.

"We have a hard-core fan base that, over time, will expand," Weitzman says.

And that base will keep NBA TV in the game and on the air no matter what — more explosion on the Internet, a la carte cable channels, whatever.